A year in the life of New York City’s premier beekeeper, who chronicles his adventures and the quirky personalities he encounters while spreading his infinite knowledge of and passion for the remarkable honey bee “Coté’s charming and poignant essay collection delivers the entertainment and smarts required to make real change in how we look at our planet, and ourselves.”—Andrew Zimmern From the humble drone to the fittingly named worker to the queen herself—who is more a slave than a monarch—the hive world, Andrew Coté reveals, is full of strivers and slackers, givers and takers, and even some insect promiscuity (startlingly similar to the prickly human variety). Written with Coté’s trademark humor, acumen, and a healthy dose of charm, Honey and Venom illuminates the obscure culture of New York City “beeks” and the biology of the bees themselves for both casual readers and bee enthusiasts. Coté takes readers with him on his daily apiary adventures over the course of a year, in the city and across the globe. In Manhattan, among his many duties, he is called to capture swarms that have clustered on fire hydrants, air-conditioning units, or street-vendor umbrellas. Beyond maneuvering within a metropolitan populace as frenzied as the bees’, Coté is able to escape from the hive mind and the rigors of city dwelling with his philanthropic, international approach to apiculture. Annually, he travels to regions across the world with his organization, Bees Without Borders, where he teaches beekeepers how to increase their honey yield and income via beekeeping endeavors. For Coté, a fourth-generation beekeeper, this is a family tradition, and this personal significance pervades his celebration of the romance and mystery of bees, their honey, and the beekeepers whose lives revolve around these most magical creatures.

For centuries honey has been regarded as a wonderful gift of nature in which the properties of an excellent food, beneficial alike to adults and children, are combined with medicinal properties. Ancient Russian manuscripts attached great importance to honey as a medicine. Popular medicine has successfully used it for many diseases from time immemorial. The results of experiments and observations made by the medical science in recent decades have proved that honey is an important medicine possessing many-sided therapeutic properties.Honey is very effective in the treatment of some pathological conditions of the intestinal tract, the respiratory organs, the heart, and the nerves.The knowledge that bee venom possesses medicinal properties has come down to us from remote antiquity. Written evidence, as well as the observations of many beekeepers and our own long experience, confirm the effectiveness of been venom in the treatment of rheumatic fever, neuritis and some other diseases.Honey and bee venom treatment must be carried on under the supervision of a physician and can be made a component part in a complex of curative measures for many diseases.

Scientific Study from the year 2017 in the subject Medicine - Pharmacology, Pharmacy, Mansoura University (Faculty of Pharmacy), language: English, abstract: The study includes measurement of bee activity in collecting and producing honey, propolis and bee venom according to bee race, in a comparative study between Carniolan hybrid and Italian hybrid. For one year and study of some biological and chemical properties of some bee products (Honey, propolis and bee venom) and their effects on three types of cancer cells (Hep-G2, Caco-2 and MCF-7) in a comparative study with the effort of two drugs (5Fu and Cis-pt) in different concentrations. The study dealt with the following points: 1. Activity honeybee in collecting and producing honey, propolis and bee venom according to bee race. 2. Biological properties of some bee products and their effects on some cancer cells. 3. Chemical properties of some bee products. Apitherapy is the art and science of making therapeutic use of products of honey bee, including honey, bee pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bees wax and bee venom. apitherapy is defined as api, meaning bee and therapy from the greek word therapia, which literally means "curing" or "healing". apitherapy is healing by using bee products. hippocrates, the greek physician known as the "father of medicine", recognized the hialing virtues of bee venom for treating arthritis and other joint problems. Since the ancient egyptians, cultures across the ages have revered the honey bee for its healing powers. Integrative medical apitherapy is the application of bee products like honey, pollen, royal jelly and propolis in healing therapies. apitherapy is an ancient alternative healing modality dating back several thousand years and used by hippocrates, mentioned by plato, and others throughout our history.